Follow-Up Care

Long-term side effects from the initial treatment plan can develop and emerge years later. For this reason, follow-up evaluations are essential. A health care professional should give your loved one a schedule of follow-up visits and outline what evaluations he or she should have done based on his or her cancer type, stage and treatments.

Factors that influence follow-up care

The type of therapy received during the treatment of head and neck cancer will determine the type of follow-up assessments performed.

If your loved one received chemoradiation therapy, then the cancer care team will recommend frequent speech and swallowing evaluations. Researchers found that one year after chemoradiation therapy, 44 percent of patients did not have a normal diet, while 22 percent did not have a functional swallow.3Logemann JA, Pauloski BR, Rademaker AW, et al. Swallowing disorders in the first year after radiation and chemoradiation. Head Neck. 2008 Feb;30(2):148-58.

The health care professionals should suggest how frequently your loved one should have follow-up evaluations. Your loved one may need to undergo the following evaluations, depending on the type of therapy administered and any emergent symptoms that may develop:

The nurses and therapists were terrific at working with me and giving me exercises to learn how to swallow and speak again. Barry W. (palatomaxillary and low grade adenocarcinoma of minor salivary gland cancer survivor)